Week 1-Saturday Genesis 11:1-12:9

Speak
Lord, for Your servant hears. Please show me now Your ways, that I
may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my
own that comes from the Law, but that which comes through faith in
Christ. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Give
me life, O Lord, according to Your Word, and I will declare Your
greatness. Amen.

Reading
the BibleThe
Bible is divided into two testaments.

The
Hebrew Bible which Christians commonly refer to as the Old
Testament, but is more properly and formally referred to as
the Tanakh
. The
name is an acronymformed
from the initial Hebrew
lettersof
the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions:
The Torah("Teaching",
also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im("Prophets")
and Ketuvim("Writings")—hence TaNaKh.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh

The
Tanakh describes the creation of the universe and the creation of a
special nation, Israel. The Lord established Israel as His chosen
people by giving them the Law and the Gospel promises. Just as God
works through means to accomplish His purposes, He chose to work
through Israel to fulfill His promises of salvation.

The
New Testament is an anthology,
a collection of Christian works written in the common
Greek languageof
the first century, at different times by various writers, who were
early
disciplesof Jesus
of Nazareth.
In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists
of 27 books. The original texts were written in the first century of
the Christian
Era.Numerous
scholars date allof
them prior to AD 70, because there is no mention of the total
destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, or the final years and
deaths of Paul, Peter, and the other apostles.

The
New Testament describes how the Lord fulfills the Law and Gospel
promises of the Old Testament through the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also reveals how the Lord sends His
Word of salvation to all nations. Through the preaching of the
Gospel, the Lord created His Church—all who trust in Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of sins.

Reading
Genesis

God
had commanded people to fill the earth and to trust that He would be
ready to bless and take care of them. Instead they band
together to make themselves famous by “storming the castle,”
God's castle-Heaven. They hope to climb right into heaven and thereby "make a name" for themselves. The Tower of Babel is further proof that the
inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth (Genesis 8:21).
Rebellion and lawlessness have so thoroughly corrupted the image of
God that our inclination regarding entry into eternal
life is by laying siege to heaven itself. Faith and trust in the
loving relationship promises of God are the furthest thing from their
hearts and minds.

The
Genealogical list is a continuation of chapter 5, recording further
the weight of sin as the length of human lives becomes
drastically more shortened. While the nations grow in people groups
and nations after the flood in chapter 10 of Genesis, the bible
begins to focus it's attention on the Family through whom God will
send the Christ, the Seed of Eve, the Son of Abraham...

Reading
Genesis 11:1—12:9

Now
the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people
migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and
settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make
bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone,
and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build
ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us
make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the
whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower,
which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold,
they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only
the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to
do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there
confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s
speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all
the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name
was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all
the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of
all the earth.

These
are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered
Arpachshad two years after the flood. And Shem lived after he
fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. And Arpachshad
lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and
daughters.

When
Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. And Shelah lived after
he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. And Eber lived after he
fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. And Peleg lived after he
fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. And Reu lived after he
fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. And Serug lived after he
fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. And Nahor lived after he
fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

When
Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Now
these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and
Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his
father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And
Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and
the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father
of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Terah
took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai
his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth
together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but
when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were
205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Now
the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and
your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will
make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name
great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless
you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So
Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram
was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram
took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their
possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had
acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When
they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the
place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites
were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To
your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar
to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill
country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on
the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord
and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still
going toward the Negeb.

5 Though
nature’s strength decay, And earth and hell withstand,To
Canaan’s bounds I urge my way At His command.The wat’ry
deep I pass, With Jesus in my view,And through the howling
wilderness My way pursue.

6 The
goodly land I see, With peace and plenty blest:A land of
sacred liberty And endless rest.There milk and honey
flow, And oil and wine abound,And trees of life forever
grow With mercy crowned.

7 There
dwells the Lord our king, The Lord our
righteousness,Triumphant o’er the world and sin, The
Prince of Peace.On Zion’s sacred height His kingdom He
maintainsAnd glorious with His saints in light Forever
reigns.

8 The
God who reigns on high The great archangels sing,And
“Holy, holy, holy!” cry, “Almighty King!Who was and
is the same And evermore shall be:Jehovah, Father, great I
AM! We worship Thee!”

9 The
whole triumphant host Give thanks to God on high.“Hail,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” They ever cry.Hail,
Abr’ham’s God and mine! I join the heav’nly lays:All
might and majesty are Thine And endless praise!

Public
domain

Apostles'
Creed

C I
believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker
of heaven and earth.

And
in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who
was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born
of the virgin Mary,

suffered
under Pontius Pilate,

was
crucified, died and was buried.

He
descended into hell.

The
third day He rose again from the dead.

He
ascended into heaven

and
sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From
thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I
believe in the Holy Spirit,

the
holy Christian Church,

the
communion of saints,

the
forgiveness of sins,

the
resurrection of the body,

and
the life T everlasting.
Amen.

The
Sixth Commandment

You
shall not commit adultery.

What
does this mean?

We
should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent
life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each
other.

Prayers

for
faithfulness until our Lord Christ appears;

for
the renewal of those whose faith and love are growing cold;

for
receptive hearts and minds to God's Word on the Lord's Day;

for
pastors and people as they prepare to administer and receive
Christ's holy gifts

Luther's
Morning Prayer

C I
thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son,
that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray
that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that
all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend
myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be
with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Luther's
Evening Prayer

C I
thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son,
that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would
forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep
me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and
soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil
foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Lord's
Prayer

C Our
Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.For
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
Amen.

Benediction
(Pauline)

P The
grace of the Lord T Jesus Christ and
the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
all.